Pretty Woman star Richard Gere has quietly purchased the long-time Connecticut home of married musicians Paul Simon and Edie Brickell.
According to The Dirt, the buyer’s name was initially kept quiet until tax records showed the sale of the picturesque 32-acre property was to a uniquely named trust attached to the 72-year-old actor.
Gere was able to pick up the estate at a sharp US$5.7 million discount from what Simon and Brickell originally paid for the property, handing over just US$10.8 million.
The stately main residence was designed by architect Harold Reeve Sleeper and completed in 1938.
Set on a high point, where it overlooks rolling hills and a private pond, the roughly 820sq m whitewashed brick Georgian pile is framed by lush, overgrown greenery.
The property features a range of living and entertaining areas including a centre hall foyer, as well as an even larger lower-level family room, and an oversized mud room between the three-car garage and the spacious eat-in kitchen.
Inside there are six bedrooms and eight bathrooms plus three powder rooms across the mansion’s three floors.
Each of the bedrooms has a private bathroom, while the primary suite boasts two bathrooms along with a fireplace, more than half a dozen closets and a large terrace with sweeping views.
The grounds include a rectangular swimming pool surrounded by green lawn and a series of formal gardens and walled courtyards.
There’s also a 222sq m cottage with three bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms along with its own gated entrance and garage that Simon and Brickell used as a recording studio.
